Becker's reported on about 30 physician practice and ASC closures in 2024. Here are some of the top reasons that facilities shut their doors in the last year:
1. Financial strain. Many practice closures in 2024 were due to financial pressure. The Children’s Medical Center Martinsville (Va.) closed Jan. 1 after 55 years of practice, citing "unavoidable financial hardship," for example.
Pueblo, Colo.-based Rocky Mountain Eye Center filed for bankruptcy in June, which impacted six facilities, 77 employees and 25,450 patients the clinics served yearly. The center was one of several that specifically attributed its closure to ongoing financial struggles in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Portland (Ore.) Clinic also closed after 40 years in operation in June. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the system transferred all same-day procedures to the Alberty Surgical Center to better manage patient flow, social distancing and pre-testing. Surgeries had not been performed in the downtown location in more than three years.
2. Strategic closures. Some ASCs and physician practices were integrated into larger health systems to increase efficiency or alleviate financial pressure without closing entirely.
Baptist Health-Fort Smith closed its outpatient surgery center in Fort Smith, Ark. Jeff Carrier, region president for Baptist Health Fort Smith and Van Buren, said the hospital is looking to integrate its ASC operations with its main hospital operating rooms to enhance service efficiency.
Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health made changes with three Kansas clinics, effectively ending its operations in the state.
Intermountain closed Duchesne Clinic in Kansas City on June 1 and transferred the Marian Dental Clinic in Topeka, Kan., and the St. Vincent Clinic in Leavenworth, Kan., to Atchison (Kan.) Community Health Clinic, a federally qualified health center.
3. Physician retirement. Some centers closed due to the retirement of physician leaders and owners.
Dumbarton, Va.-based Commonwealth Gastroenterology shuttered Feb. 28, according to a notice posted on the practice's website. The practice was owned and operated by gastroenterologist Scott Woogen, MD, who had been serving the area for more than 30 years and retired, according to the notice.
"It has been my pleasure to serve the Greater Richmond community for over 30 years, and caring for you, my patients, has been extremely rewarding," Dr. Woogen said in the notice.